cornerback_advancefandomcom-20200213-history
Technique
Drills Cornerback is a very technical position and relying on athleticism alone will lead to you seeing a lot of passes getting completed on your side of the field. We practice the core movements of playing cornerback position using drills so, in game, they should become second nature. Ladder drills are a useful drill primarily as a warm up tool as they target the fast twitch muscles in your body so you can make quick, efficient and agile movements. They also work on your body coordination as you have to hit specific spots with each step while still moving quickly. The focus points are maintain a low body position with knees bent and shoulders over toes while pumping your arms with every step. For the first few drills I have here, create a zig-zag of 6-8 cones around 5 yards apart. In the first drill begins by sprinting to the first cone before dropping your hips and rotating 90 degrees to backpedal to the next. Once at the next cone, use the foot on the side opposite to the direct you're breaking towards to plant and drive the opposite knee to get out of the break as fast as possible in as few steps as possible. Key points are to dip your head and pump your arms when you break to create a powerful body angle to explode out of your break. Another type of drills are box drills which require you to mark a 5yd x 5yd box. Once you've created this, the possibilities are endless as you can mix together different breaks and turns. In the video below you see me sprint to the first cone, speed turn 315 degrees to get to the next, backpedal then T-step to finish. you to practice 45 degree breaks and also speed turns. Press-man When playing press-man coverage, your primary job is to disrupt the timing of the receiver's route so he becomes out of sync with the QB. The most important thing in press man is your eyes. You must keep your eyes glued to the receivers waistline to avoid being fooled by the shoulder/head fakes as well as the big steps he's going to show to you mislead you. You must fight to stay square at the line of scrimmage and learn to use your hands without lunging or putting yourself in a vulnerable position. A drill you can use to stay square is the lateral mirror drill. Line up in press on the line of scrimmage opposite to a 'receiver' who will make random left and rights cuts on his side of the line and you have to maintain your inside shade while shuffling left and right. The most importnt point as always is eyes through the waistline, don't let the receiver distract you with any other part of his body. Do not to let your feet get too wide but at the same time, not let them come together either as that's how you get crossed over and, as always, stay in a low athletic position with slightly bent knees and shoulders just over toes. Off-man When playing in off-man coverage, line up 7-9 yards away from the line of scrimmage and take 2-3 small, slow read steps to see the quarterback's drop before snapping your eyes back to the wide receiver. If the quarterback is under-centre and does a 3 step drop, or if he's in the shotgun and does a catch & throw technique, you instantly know that the receiver is about to run a short route (e.g. slant, 5yd hitch, screen, etc.). At this point, you should snap your eyes back to the receiver and use your T-step that you've practiced to break hard and come downhill to play the short route from the receiver. If the quarterback in under-centre and drops more than 3 steps or, in shotgun, drops after catching the snap, again snap your eyes back to the receiver but now you can get into your backpedal as you know that the receiver will not be running a short route (It will be an intermediate/deep route).